But we don’t have a great basic recipe for hummus on the blog. And a few months ago, something kind of terrible/wonderful happened. When I went on my girl’s weekend to New Orleans, I had the most amazing hummus I’d ever eaten in my life at Shaya. And ever since, I haven’t been able to eat store-bought hummus. Which is sad, because before, I really enjoyed store-bought hummus. But alas, that one experience turned me into a hummus snob.

I’ve had Jerusalem: A Cookbook sitting on my bookshelf for a few years, and, while I love the pictures, I haven’t been brave enough to actually make any of the recipes. But it has such rave reviews that I figured if I was going to find the dreamiest hummus recipe, that would be a great starting point. And it didn’t disappoint. A few notes on the recipe:

You’re cooking dried chickpeas instead of using canned chickpeas. The process isn’t terrible, especially if you have an Instant Pot. I think this helps a lot with the creamy consistency of the hummus, but if it’s between canned chickpea hummus and no hummus, go for the canned chickpeas. P.S. Chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing.

This calls for 1 whole cup of tahini (sesame seed paste), which is a lot. I recommend starting with 3/4 cup and then adding more if you want a bolder flavor.

You want the water to be ice cold–measure out about 1/2 cup cold water, then add some ice cubes and then add enough water at the end to get a creamy, easily spreadable consistency, more like fluffy buttercream frosting than thick, pasty hummus.

I’ve made this in my blender (Blendtec, so a good one) and I’ve made it in my food processor. If at all possible, use a food processor.

You’re going to need tahini (sesame seed paste; check for it in the kosher foods section), lemon juice, garlic, and dry chickpeas (like, purchased from the dry bean area of the grocery store–I can’t find them at Walmart, but I was able to find them at Kroger. If you make it with canned chickpeas, you’ll need between 3 1/2-4 cups of drained chickpeas).

Rinse and sort the chickpeas and then cook them.

To cook in an electric pressure cooker, place rinsed chickpeas in the pressure cooker,

add water,

and cook for 35 minutes. Drain and rinse.

To cook on the stovetop, cover the chickpeas with 2-3 inches of cold water and soak overnight. The next day, drain the chickpeas. Place a medium saucepan over high heat on the stove and add the chickpeas and baking soda. Cook for 3 minutes, then add water and bring to a boil. Cook for 20-40 minutes or until the chickpeas are very tender (but not mushy), stirring frequently and skimming the foam and skins off the top. Drain the chickpeas.

Place the chickpeas in a food processor and process until smooth and pasty. With the machine running, add the lemon juice, tahini, garlic, kosher salt, and finally the ice water and process until the hummus is completely smooth and creamy (think like fluffy buttercream frosting.)

Ingredients

3/4-1 cup tahini (if you love tahini, go for the whole cup, if you’re iffy on it, stick with 3/4 cup; you can always add more later if you decide to)

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

6-7 tablespoons ice water

coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Rinse and sort the chickpeas and then cook them.

To cook in an electric pressure cooker, place rinsed chickpeas in the pressure cooker, add 5 cups water, and cook for 35 minutes.

To cook on the stovetop, cover the chickpeas with 2-3 inches of cold water and soak overnight. The next day, drain the chickpeas. Place a medium saucepan over high heat on the stove and add the chickpeas and baking soda. Cook for 3 minutes, then add 6 1/4 cups water and bring to a boil. Cook for 20-40 minutes or until the chickpeas are very tender (but not mushy), stirring frequently and skimming the foam and skins off the top.

Place the chickpeas in a food processor and process until smooth and pasty. With the machine running, add the lemon juice, tahini, garlic, and finally the ice water and process until the hummus is completely smooth and creamy (think like fluffy buttercream frosting.)

19 comments

To clarify, is the 5 1/2- 6 1/4 cups water the amount used to COOK the beans if done in a pressure cooker, or the amount used to soak the beans if cooking on a stove top? I’ve been wanting to use my pressure cooker to cook dried beans (I’ve got a TON in food storage), but I’m too afraid to guess on the ratio of beans to water so I haven’t tried anything yet. I’m excited to try this recipe, not only because the hummus looks amazing, but also because I want to figure out this whole “dry bean in the instant pot” thing.

I love homemade hummus!! My first experience was at a Relief Society World Christmas party. A lady had been to Jerusalem and shared her hummus and recipe for it. I could not get enough that night and thought about it for days! Buying my own tahini was a life-changer (I buy mine off Amazon in a double pack…Baron’s brand I think). I feel like most people either love hummus or hate it. The rest of my family thinks I’m weird for liking something with strange ingredients and has a funny sounding name. That’s OK…more for me! Thanks for another great recipe!

Great recipe! I love to add smoked paprika to hummus. If you’ve got older dried chickpeas in food storage and/or you live at any altitude, soaking the beans never hurts — even if you’re using a pressure cooker.

I was reading up on this because there are mixed feelings on adding the baking soda. The general feeling is that it speeds up the cooking with the stovetop method, but that it’s not necessary when cooked in a pressure cooker and it can make the give the beans an unpleasant texture/flavor. Hope that helps!

Hi there, thanks for the awesome recipe, can’t wait to try it out. I recently saw a jamie oliver video suggesting jarred chickpeas instead of canned chickpeas if you don’t have the time to cook dried ones. Have you ever tried the jarred ones and what are your opinions if so?

Stop buying tahini and make your own. You can get sesame seeds in bulk at Winco. Toast seeds on medium until dark brown; don’t let them burn. Cool then put in a food processor or blender with 3 Tb olive oil. Add more oil as needed but it’s delicious just like this and if they’re toasted enough. You’ll never buy tahini again.